Skift Take
It's a beautiful world (Belmond), and a curious one, as Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. is discarding its iconic -- albeit licensed -- brand, and is rebranding its portfolio of hotels, river cruises, rail lines, safaris and restaurants.
Orient-Express Hotels, which owns and operates 45 luxury hotels, trains, river cruises and even New York's City's 21 restaurant, announced it will rebrand all of its holdings except the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express beginning March 10.
After a rigorous process, including the vetting of 650 potential new brand names and spearheaded by branding expert AgencySacks, Orient-Express Hotels chose Belmond, signifying "beautiful world," as its new go-to-market global brand.
"Belmond is derived from Latin for beautiful and world and the stylized glow suggests the influence of our global reach and our world," Ralph Aruzza, Orient-Express Hotels' chief sale and marketing officer, said in a presentation this week about the rebranding.
"Belmond? Sounds like a city [Belmar] on the Jersey Shor
